TUGUEGARAO -- The 60,000 square meters of retail space at the newly opened Robinsons Place Tuguegarao is not only dedicated to national and global brands, but to local businesses as well.

Most of the local brands here are restaurants like Criselda's, which is famous for its pancit dishes like the local pride pancit batil patung.

There's also Baker's Percent, a thriving local bakery shop that has several branches in Tuguegrao City, Cagayan, Isabela, and Ilocos.

One of the must-try restaurants at the mall is Franco's by Manio's Pampangueña, a restaurant that serves Kapampangan and modern local dishes. It's a spin-off of one Tuguegarao's popular restaurants Manio's Pampangueña, which opened in Tuguegarao City back in 1958.

“My grandfather, who was a posporo (match) agent, moved here because he saw a lot of potential. He was offered a space and started a restaurant business. My grandmother was the great cook of our family,” shared Franco's owner Rea Manio Driz.

Franco's specializes in modern Filipino with an Asian twist like the Pinoy laksa and dulong pasta. But it also retained Manio's Pampangueña favorites like the egg foo young (Chinese omelet dish), kare-kare, sisig, crispy pata, palabok, and many more.

Maristel's, on the other hand, is a bakery and cake shop that started as a supplier of breads to restaurants and cafes. The bakery opened its first store at Robinsons Place Tuguegarao since it started as a kitchen-only shop in 2008. The bakery is famous for its potato bread and mango bravo cake — layers of sponge cake with mango cream frosting, topped with slices of mangoes enveloped by a sweet and clear gelatin.

There's also the Korean and Japanese restaurant, Sensei. Owned by Tenessee Austria and her husband, it is the couple's first restaurant venture. They first started as a simple food stall and now offers a variety of Korean and Japanese food like ramen, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, bibimbap, ramyun and many more.

Sensei was one of the restaurants that drew in a lot of customers during the opening day of Robinsons Place Tuguegarao late last month.

Another restaurant that drew in crowds was Slobber Lab. It's a hip laboratory-themed restaurant that serves gourmet burgers, chicken, and pasta and wwned and operated by Udarbe siblings Maria Irish, Edmundo, and Maria Irene. Edmundo is a medtech student, while Irene is taking up medicine. The condiments here are playfully served in syringes.

“We started at home and our friends love our food. Our friends were the ones who actually pushed us to open a restaurant,” Maria Irish said.

Slobber Lab is known for its gourmet burgers like its Lava Burger (beef patty with cheese, bacon, and caramelized onions) and Ultimate Drool, a Middle Eastern inspired burger, the patty is peppered with various herbs and spices.

MAJA'S HOMECOMING

Robinsons Place Tuguegarao recently opened to a full house and while big crowds have become a usual sight when malls open, even the executives of the mall developer were surprised by the turnout.

“My only regret is I wished I built a bigger mall. The response is overwhelming,” Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) president and chief operating officer Frederick Go said during the opening ceremony.

It also helped that the company's brand ambassador, Kapamilya actress Maja Salvador, was present during the opening ceremony. Salvador is actually a native of Cagayan and was born in Aparri, which made the event even more special for the people of Tuguegarao.

The mall is located along Cagayan Valley Road, just a few minutes away from the city's key areas like the airport, business centers, offices, and schools. Tuguegarao is the central hub of Cagayan Valley, where major universities, regional and provincial offices are situated. It's also one of the most vibrant and progressive cities in Northern Philippines.

Rival SM Prime Holdings, Inc. opened its SM Center Tuguegarao Downtown last October.

EMBED PHOTO 5 : Robinsons Place Tuguegarao was packed during opening day. Handout

“We first went to North Luzon with the opening of Robinsons in Ilocos Norte. And ever since that time, we were thinking, where will we build and open our next mall? And Tuguegarao was always in our radar. The more we did our market research, the more we were convinced that we really should open a mall here because the economic fundamentals are very solid,” explained RLC general manager for Commercial Centers Division Arlene Magtibay.

FIRST CINEMA IN YEARS

Robinsons Place Tuguegarao brings in a cinema facility, Tuguegarao's first after three years of not having one. During the opening, tickets were sold out due to high demand.

Before this, the people of Tuguegarao would have to drive two hours to Cauayan in Isabela just to watch the latest blockbuster. Robinsons Movieworld in Tuguegarao has a total of six digital cinemas with 3D capabilities.

Aside from Movieworld, Robinsons Malls also brings its popular affiliate brands like Robinsons Department Store, Robinsons Supermarket, Robinsons Appliances, Handyman, Daiso Japan, Robinsons Bank, Toys R Us, and Southstar Drug.

Robinsons Place Tuguegarao is actually one of the first malls to get the “pink” Daiso Japan store. It's a newly designed store that has a better store layout, natural wood elements, and pink accents. The usual red store front is replaced by a wooden arc element and a clean pink Daiso Japan signage.

Wood and natural elements actually make up the core design of Robinsons Place Tuguegarao. According to its designer, architect Albert Yu of ASYA Design, the overall design is inspired by the palay or grain of rice as it pays homage to Cagayan's main produce.

The “rice grain” design element is added all throughout the mall, from the pillars to the ceiling to wall accents. Colorful palay-inspired artworks are also painted on some of the pillars of the mall by artist August Santiago.

There are also carabao plant pots inside the mall. Aside from being used in the fields, the carabao is a major livestock in Tuguegarao. The city is famous for its tapang kalabaw and pastillas made from carabao's milk.

“Our designers took inspiration from the main produce of Cagayan, which is rice. So you can see on the ceilings and walls, the design elements are inspired by the grain of rice. For this particular mall, we made sure that we would put together an array of restaurants, shops, and attractions, that the people here would enjoy,” Magtibay said.

COMING SOON: A HOTEL

Aside from the affiliate brands, RLC also brought in popular local and international retailers and restaurants. The list include Uniqlo, Guess, Mango, Vans, Levi's, Bench, Penshoppe, Bayo, Plains & Prints, Burger King, Bon Chon, Hap Chan Shabu Shabu, Seafood Island, Pepper Lunch, among others. Beauty and facial shop Skin Perfect also opened a branch in the new mall.

Digiworld, likewise brings computer, gadget, and accessory stores such as Samsung, HP, Oppo, Cherry Mobile, Octagon, Silicon Valley, and many more. A family mall is not complete without Tom's World, Kidzoona, Kid's Paradise, and Quantum Amusement.

Robinsons Place Tuguegarao will also house government offices under its Lingkod Pinoy program. Full service SSS and Pag-ibig offices would also open soon.

And soon, Go Hotels, RLC's hotel chain will also open, attached to the main mall.

“We are your partner in progress, we are your partner in making Tuguegarao an even more progressive and vibrant city. Please watch out: We are also opening Go Hotels, hopefully within the year, attached to the mall,” Go said at the opening.